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Caregiver Paperback – October 26, 2019

by Rick R. Reed (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 125 ratings
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Winner of the 2013 EPIC eBook Award for Best Contemporary RomanceIt's 1991, and Dan Calzolaio has just moved to Florida with his lover, Mark, having fled Chicago and Mark's addictions to begin a new life on the Gulf Coast. Volunteering for the Tampa AIDS Alliance is just one part of that new beginning, and that's how Dan meets his new buddy, Adam.Adam Schmidt is not at all what Dan expected. The guy is an original - witty, wry, and sarcastic with a fondness for a smart black dress, Barbra Streisand, and a good mai tai. Adam doesn't let his imminent death get him down, even through a downward spiral that sees him thrown in jail.Each step of Adam's journey teaches Dan new lessons about strength and resilience, but it's Adam's lover, Sullivan, to whom Dan feels an almost irresistible pull. Dan knows the attraction isn't right, even after he dumps his cheating, drug-abusing boyfriend. But then Adam passes away, and it leaves Sullivan and Dan both alone to see if they can turn their love for Adam into something whole and real for each other.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    254 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    October 26, 2019
  4. Dimensions
    5 x 0.64 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1702823164
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1702823166
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

This is not a heart-wrenching tear-jerker even though one of the main themes is AIDS...this is an uplifting tale of overcoming adversity, seeing the beauty in life, and celebrating how people remain in our lives even after they have physically left us. --Dark Diva Reviews
***
By far, one of the most touching and beautifully written stories I have ever read. I was already a fan of this author. This book just cemented it... This is an outstanding book and it immediately went on my all-time favorites list.--On Top Down Under Book Reviews***Sometimes someone enters our life and leaves an indelible mark on us even though our time with them may equal only a moment if measured against the span of a lifetime. And yet, we are fundamentally changed as a result of having known them.

Caregiver by Rick R. Reed is the intensely moving story of such a relationship. --Three Dollar Bill Reviews***I loved this book, even though it made me cry and dealt with dark topics like AIDS, loss of life, drug abuse, imprisonment, and helplessness. All that said, this isn't a book that is only sad. It is a book of hope, of remembrance, of the power of love. It is one of the best books I've read this year.--Mrs. Condit Reads Books***This is really the story of four men, although two are gone in very different ways throughout the book. It is also a very powerful story about how loss can turn into love. How being willing to surrender and let go can bring strength. How a man's heart can love and lose and still keep beating. And how friendships can grow into more. And most of all, how we all have to remember to keep memories alive and keep living through the losses.

Mr. Reed had written a gentle lullaby of a book here, and it sang me to rest with loving memories of lost ones, dear friends, and shared joys.T.A. Webb, author of The Broken Road Cafe and Knights Out***...though this book deals with heavy topics like AIDS and drug abuse, it isn't dark. Yes, I cried, both sad and happy tears, but the overall message is one of hope, triumph over dispair, and that those who are gone live on in our hearts forever. I'm rating this book five stars because that's all that's allowed, but Caregiver transcends ratings. It's in a class by itself. I cannot recommend this novel highly enough. Eden Winters, author of The Sentinel and the Diversion series***This book has that indefinable magic that makes it a classic.--Eli Easton, author of Boy Shattered

From the Author

Picture it: Tampa Bay, Florida, 1991. A young man flees a troubled life in Chicago to begin anew on the Gulf Coast of Florida. White sand beaches and azure waters beckon. Shortly after landing in Tampa Bay, the young man, in a gesture of solidarity with his gay brethren who are dying by the thousands, volunteers to become an AIDS buddy, focusing his attention on one victim of the virus...
Actually, if you've read the blurb of my new novel, CAREGIVER, you might think that the above is an alternate synopsis I wrote for the book. But the truth is it's about me. Like my main character in CAREGIVER, Dan, I too fled Chicago for a new life in Tampa, FL and I too joined a program that supplied AIDS buddies to those suffering from the virus. In 1991, the afflicted had a very bleak outlook. But sometimes, we meet a person who can overcome that bleakness with biting wit, humor, grace, and style. My buddy was just such a man--he left a mark on me that has stayed with me until this very day and will always be one of the most special people I have ever met.

My book is called CAREGIVER, but by the end, the reader will wonder who really is the caregiver.

It's taken me twenty years to write about Jim, my AIDS buddy from 1991 (who becomes "Adam" in the novel), my funny valentine who ended up dying in the Florida State Prison--but I think the results are ultimately worth it.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (October 26, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 254 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1702823164
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1702823166
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.64 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 125 ratings

About the author

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Rick R. Reed

Rick R. Reed

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Rick R. Reed is an award-winning and bestselling author of more than fifty works of published fiction. He is a Lambda Literary Award finalist. Entertainment Weekly has described his work as “heartrending and sensitive.” Lambda Literary has called him: “A writer that doesn’t disappoint…” Find him at www.rickrreedreality.blogspot.com. Rick lives in Palm Springs, CA, with his husband, Bruce, and their two rescue dogs, Kodi and Joaquin.

You can also like Rick on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rickrreedbooks or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/rickrreed. Rick always enjoys hearing from readers and answers all e-mails personally. Send him a message at rickrreedbooks@gmail.com

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
125 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Tricia Flowers
5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful, heartbreaking, and hopeful
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2024
Verified Purchase
This is my fourth book by Rick R. Reed, and every book has felt so real. Adam, Dan, Mark and Sullivan felt so real to me, and I felt all of their emotions so much. Rick is a beautiful writer, and I love getting lost in his stories.
This starts out as Dan’s story, who’s moved to Florida with his boyfriend Mark, in the hopes of this new place helping Mark get past his addictions. Dan signs up to be an AIDS Buddy, and is assigned to Adam. The first time they meet, Adam is mixing cocktails before noon and wearing a little black dress and kitten heels. Dan soon discovers that Adam’s over the top attitude is part truth, part covering up how scared he is to know he’s dying. While Dan struggles with Mark, Adam struggles with his boyfriend Sullivan, who’s going his best to take care of him but they’re not seeing eye to eye. When a horrible event separates them, Dan is there for Sullivan.
This is a romance, but it’s also a look at four men going through so much: love, loss, grief, hope. It’s sad, but it’s also hopeful and beautiful.
I definitely want to read Rick’s whole collection; his books are so touching.
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Gregory G. Allen
4.0 out of 5 stars History Lesson for any Generation
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2011
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As I started reading I thought "I've read this book"...and then I realized it was just that I had vividly lived it back in the early 90s. That's how good Rick Reed is. He takes a reader into this world we feel we know, especially those who recall this period in our 'not so long ago' history. I can remember it like yesterday & that's what good story telling is all about. With heart. Compassion. Humor through tears. He mixes these four men together with a title that can assume multiple meanings and gives us real people that we can relate to in our own lives. Bravo, Mr. Reed, for stepping so bravely into this type of writing and taking your readers on a moving journey.
2 people found this helpful
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Tom W
5.0 out of 5 stars Intimate, very personal read
Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2011
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It is very hard to separate myself, my life, my friends and my losses from a book like this. I was in my early 20's when the "gay cancer" started to be talked out, and was 30 in 1991, when this book is set. I remember when my best friend since I was in 6th grade tested positive, dropped out of sight and eventually died alone in Marin County, because he was so afraid we would see him wither and die. I remember my roommate, a kind, gentle man with a beautiful tenor who sang in his church choir had to be hospitalized time after time with pneumocyctis pneumonia and I started seeing KS lesions, and his eyes dulled with cataracts. And how I thanked God every day after my first test was negative, when I had night sweats and sore gums and thought the worst. And how we went to more funerals than any group of young men should ever have to go to. And how we prayed for a cure, or even better medications than AZT, and how slowly some of our prayers were answered. And how we kept on loving and living.

This isn't my story, but in an odd, loving way, it is. Mine, and every man out there who lost a loved one to this cruel and ugly disease.

Dan and his partner Mark move from Chicago to the warm climate of Tampa for a fresh start. Mark's slow slide into addiction forces them to run away from their home and try a new place, a new life, with new friends. While they look for work, Dan decides to become and "AIDS buddy" with a local outreach agency.

Adam is a wisp of a man, blonde and cute, snarly and tough as nails and a riot. He is also positive, moving into the later stages of his infection, and though he presents a good front, scared. His partner, Sullivan, supports him but is scared what the disease might do to him. Miracle of miracles, he has tested negative, and while he loves Adam dearly, he wants to stay that way.

This is really the story of four men, although two are gone in very different ways throughout the book. It is also a very powerful story about how loss can turn into love. How being willing to surrender and let go can bring strength. How a man's heart can love and lose and still keep beating. And how friendships can grow into more. And most of all, how we all have to remember to keep memories alive and keep living through the losses.

Mr. Reed had written a gentle lullaby of a book here, and it sang me to rest with loving memories of lost ones, dear friends, and shared joys. Thanks.

Tom
4 people found this helpful
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silvia
5.0 out of 5 stars Touched my heart
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2020
Verified Purchase
Wow, just wow. This book touched my heart. As those of us who lived through the 80s when information about AIDS was so new, AIDS was the scourge that when uttered meant one thing, death sentence. Those of us who had friends who died of AIDS tried to put on brave faces as we did our best to bring comfort and support to those suffering in their last days but then cried hysterically in private. This book brought it all back. I sobbed through most of it.

This book is about a fictional author named Dan Shoemaker who writes a book, Caregiver, based on his experience as a caregiver to an amazing man who had AIDS. It’s not a biography since all the characters are fiction but it’s based on Dan’s true story. It’s interesting the way the book is laid out. Prologue.Book.Epilogue.Afterward.

The Prologue of this book is what happens when the fictional author Dan submits the book Caregiver to his literary agent and her response to it. After the Prologue, beginning with Chapter 1, is the book Caregiver that Dan wrote. OMG, it had me weeping throughout. And then the Epilogue picks back up where the Prologue left off with Dan’s response to his agent. Then there’s an Afterward which is a MUST read, written by the real author which reads like the book written by Dan the fictional author, but it brings everything together. Confused? Read the book and read it from Prologue through the last sentence of the Afterward. I only hope you’ll loved it as much as I did.
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Top reviews from other countries

cc
5.0 out of 5 stars 5+ stars... such a beautiful, emotional story
Reviewed in Canada on January 13, 2020
Verified Purchase
I’m not often speechless after I finish reading a story. For the most part, I can assemble my thoughts in good order and share my opinion about the tale. However, and this is a big however, I’m struggling to compose a comment about Caregiver because this story struck me so very deeply. I lived through the early AIDS crisis when the diagnosis was a death sentence. The news was full of far right-wing Evangelicals assuring the public that their God was taking retribution on the gays. There was no talk of love, just an intense hate. Their attitude was disgusting then and it still is now.
Sorry, I’ve digressed. Mr. Reed is an exceptionally talented author. His words are born in his heart. He feels deeply, and you just know that he loves deeply as well. I admire him, and I’m grateful he gave us a peak into his life, his talent, and his heart.
Thank you, Mr. Reed.
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Beverley
4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, emotional read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 14, 2013
Verified Purchase
A very thought provoking read about terminal illness and how it affects not only the person who is ill but those who know and love them. Never morbid but tragic certainly. It also brings up the sensitive issue of loving again after the death of a partner. Wonderful characterisation and beautifully written to evoke the full range of emotions. A story to keep and re-read, loved it.
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Maymareads
5.0 out of 5 stars Looking for someone and they found you?
Reviewed in Australia on June 19, 2014
Verified Purchase
A beautiful and empathetic read about commitment to others and ourselves. A wonderfully written story of compassion and friendship that can be found if we just believe in the capacity of humans to care for each other. But to be open to listening to others and find just what we were looking for.
I loved this story! I loved that the broken man was the one who mended others.
Lesson learned, listen to others and find ourselves.
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